Alcohol
by klcm
Summary: The stuff that makes things... just... slip out unwillingly... with different consequences...


Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

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'You know what?' Penelope said as she raised a glass. 'To hell with Kevin, to hell with life with men.'

'Baby girl, don't you think you should slow down?'

'Nope.' She said as she took a large swig of her 11th drink. 'And you know why? Because I don't let men tell me what to do.'

Derek ran a hand over his head, he had been trying for near enough an hour to haul Penelope out of the bar she had been sat at, when he had found her she was staring aimlessly into her drink, her hand twisting the glass without a single cognitive thought. The only times he had seen this was when she had things bringing her down, when she was tackling demons of all times and this time was no exception, her demon was Kevin Lynch.

'He told me to quit my job, I said no. He told me to stop hanging out with the team, I said no. He told me to stop seeing you, I said no. He asked me to marry him, I said no. He promised me a happy future, I said no. He told me to stop loving you, I said no.' Penelope said in a drunken rant, but as soon as that last words were spoken she gave the bar man the bill, grabbed her bag and left, leaving Derek in a state of shock at what she had just said.

'You might want to go after her...' The bar tender said. 'I've heard a lot of drunken speeches in my life but none with that much conviction and truth.' Derek looked at the man that he didn't know, nodded, downed his drink for Dutch courage and fled the bar.

He found her staggering down the street, obviously talking to herself with anger, scolding herself.

'Hey baby girl, where you going on your own?'

'Home.'

'On your own?'

'I have no other takers, my prince charming was anything other than charming, he was more like an evil toad... Go back Derek, handsome, angel cheeks, Adonis, I can find my way own, I just need the yellow brick road.' He smiled at her as she joked. 'Just go, I'm sure there is a little hottie that will come along and swoop you off your feet, be you princess.' She halted mid walk. 'Hey! You may even give your mom those grandbabies.' She then started walking again and he watched her before walking slightly behind her.

'I'm not leaving you.'

'Derek... this is a perfect night to get out there. I should be the least of your worries.'

'But when a woman says that they love someone, isn't it kind of compulsory for that to be returned.' She laughed again and shook her head in disbelief.

'No man loves someone like me... it's a complete no go.'

'Penelope!'

'Derek!' She retorted back at him. 'I'm right, look at you Derek, hot, smoking hot, one hell of man, has girls latching on in one simple breath.' She turned to him, swaying slightly in drunkenness. 'Then there's me, the geek, the fat, the unbeautiful... see the pathetic difference there.' She hit her head in frustration. 'God I can keep a secret for 6 years, the moment I take control of my life and have some alcohol, it all goes to pot and I profess THAT!' She muttered and carried on walking.

Derek couldn't get over the amount she was divulging in minutes. Did she say 6 years? He smiled that she had loved him for as long as he had loved her. Why couldn't she see that she was not a geek, that she was beautiful? He smirked and walked after her again. 'You know how stereotypical you're being in your drunkenness sweetness?'

'Well lap it up because once this alcohol is out of my system I'm going into hiding.'

'Oh is that so?' She waved a hand in the air. 'And where would that be?'

'Well if I remember spouting any of this, nowhere near civilisation.' She stopped and turned to look at him. 'Sorry...' She said and started her journey home again.

'For what goddess? Telling me you love me, for making me realise what I've had right in front of me all along?' She began to laugh. 'You dare go into hiding without us trying a bigger US and I will spank you so hard you won't be able to sit for a week.'

'Derek you can't love me.' The drunken proving evident in her addled brain once again.

'Why not?'

'Because I'm the best friend, the one that keeps you sane, that allows you time to unload, to cheer you up, to give you the light when the world seems so dark... I live on the side lines of your life and as much as I won't the main field, it's never going to happen... you'll regret it, one day you'll wake up with me next to you and wonder why you didn't have one of the glamour girls that has everything that makes you a beautiful couple, a beautiful man, a beautiful woman, it's simple maths handsome... I don't fall into the equation.' She started walking faster this time, so Derek ran after her and grabbed her wrist.

Without even a second thought, Derek pulled her close and kissed her with every ounce of emotion he knew he held for her, he knew that once that came out it would be powerful and as her lips reacted to his, he felt the electricity travelling, the lust and yearning grow and the inner battle stop as he finally did the one thing he wanted to do. He released his pent up love.

'I love you Penelope Garcia... I'd be a fool to not want you.'

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'45 years baby girl...and I'm still in love with you more now than I was then.'

Penelope blushed as she settled on the couch next to her husband. 'Flatterer.'

'You proved that night that alcohol's good and we have children and grandchildren to prove it.' She laughed at him. 'I don't regret this.' Was all he said as he took her in his arms and the film played out. They're last thought being that alcohol wasn't all that bad.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

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_So what d'you think?_


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